Ore no Imouto ga Konnani Kawaii Wake Ga Nai - Review

Story: 8/10
the story is about an ordinary high school boy (Kyouske) who accidentally discovers that his sister(Kirino) is a closet otaku. Their adventures revolves around Kirino's "life counseling" about her otaku hobby.

I am really impressed on how this series turned out since at first I honestly thought that this series will lead to incest as the first few episodes indicates and the synopsis you can find on the net but as the series progress it was really all about the interaction of siblings and also about the life of an otaku as seen by the society. The series was able to clearly create the social barriers that the characters has to face. The recurring theme of the first few episode was "Being true to yourself despite what others think about you" and it really struck me since I am once like Kirino, afraid to let other know that I love watching anime or playing games so I sympathize with her. Then we're introduced to the world of otaku: to the shops that Kirino visits, the forum where Kirino interacts with others like her, we even got introduced on how anime are being produced and also Comiket was featured. Of course as all those things are presented there was an emotional roller coaster ride specially with Kirino and Kyouske's interaction.

I was also impressed by the fact that this series was able to explore it's own audience's culture, the ones who are being ridiculed and shunned by most of the society.

Since the story revolves around Kirino and Kyouske, you'll find that as each episode progress, they also get a lot closer it's just that Kirino doesn't want to admit it. Overall, the story of the series is really warm and one would definitely make you go 'Awwww' as the series end but at the same it it'll make you laugh at the antics of the characters. Somehow, like I said in my Quick Post the 'Good End' didn't get a very lasting impression. There's also something bothering me and it's the photo album at ep 12, I got a feeling that it contains the pictures of Kyouske and Kirino when they were a child. I just hope that we were able to see it 'cause it might give more 'awwww' factor since it could reveal that Kirino really treasures her brother (in a non-incest way). Oh well, there's still the 'True End', I just hope that it'll make me cry and I don't mind now even if it'll lead to incest since we get to watch more OreImo.



Characters: 9/10
The best part of this series is most probably it's characters.

Kirino is a middle school girl who is very talented. She's good at school, sports and she's beautiful and a model to top that up but under all that she's an otaku who loves playing R-18 eroge. She is the complete opposite of what people usually think when they see/hear the word otaku. I think it is fun to have a sister like Kirino since she'll unknowingly drag you to different place and you'll experience new things but the catch is she a bit ungrateful and often times bitchy but without that characteristics she'll be a boring 'imouto'. Kyouske on the other hand is a nice brother, he'll go to great lengths just to help his sister so yes I want a brother like Kyouske. Kuroneko when I first saw her I find her a bit eccentric specially with the way she dresses and talks but eventually it is revealed that when she's not cosplaying or watching anime, she's a very caring sister and a very good frind to Kyouske. Saori is just plain weird but heck in real life, she's a very sexy lady and to boot that up she's rich. Now, let those characters interact and you'll have one hell of a show that will make you laugh one moment then make you go 'Awwww' the next.

Now if you look at the characters it's like the show is teaching us that otaku people are not what you really think they are. Sure they play weird games and watch weird shows but heck we all have our own hobbies so it doesn't mean that if your into anime or games you're already disturbed. All we have to do is respect each others' hobbies.

Animation: 10/10
The first thing that had caught my attention when I watched the trailer of this show is it's animation. I love the bright colors they used, the lines are really solid and the facial expressions of the characters are very vivid. The animation is flawless and the character design are very adorable. The girls are really cute and they pushed a LOT of moe~ buttons on me. Every week I have the chance to change the wallpaper of my PC since the still in the ED is really gorgeous. I love the detail of the series from the different OP animation and ED animations to the stalls of Akihabara and the manga of Kuroneko, *thumbs up* to AIC. I have to admit this is one of the best animations in the last fall season.

Sound: 8/10
The best OP song of the season belongs to Irony by ClariS since it was a catchy song coupled with an awesome OP sequence that changes every episode it is simply captivating. The ED songs on the other hand there's nothing really memorable. The bgm that is being played during certain scenes are really good and they played it in accurate timing. It'll make you laugh, feel sad or get excited at certain scenes.

The voice acting is simply spectacular. You could feel the emotions of the characters and couple it up with the vivid expressions and you have the best acting you can get in an anime. I have to commend Hana Kanazawa when she's saying Nii-san in a very sexy way and when she narrated Kuroneko's manga in ep 11 its really captivating. I am now in love with her voice.

Enjoyment: 9/10
I really enjoyed this one every week since I was always surprised at what Kyouske would do for Kirino. Also every week I don't really know what will the producers would pull on us since I haven't read the light novel of this so I don't really know where this series is headed. Oh let's not forget the cuteness of Kuroneko whether she's arguing with Kirino, being embarrassed or doing something ridiculous in front of the mirror I never get tired of her.

Definitely one of the best comedy shows last fall season and maybe one of the best this year but it has a tough competition with Arakawa and a number of shows I've yet to finish. All in all I LOVE and ENJOYED OreImo and I can't wait to watch the 'True End' of this.

Oh what a long wait for June...

Overall: 8.8/10

until then...

~ja